The Nike Women’s Marathon! Gather 20, 000 people together in San Francisco and run a marathon and be given a Tiffany Necklace by fairly handsome rugged firefighters at the end…Wonder what else was in store for the runner’s of this race?
Lots of hills! But is also one of the biggest fundraisers for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I don’t know the numbers for this race but when I ran for Team in Training in San Diego each runner had to raise over $2,500! Team in Training provided the coaching, training and support throughout the 12, 16, or 20 week program in addition to your lodging and race entry. It is a great program for a first time runner. It is what got me back in shape right after my son was born.
So, apparently, the Nike Women’s Race didn’t go without it’s problems. Namely, a woman named Adrien O’Connell beat all the elite women racers by 11 MINUTES! Oh my goodness. Been savaging the internet tonight and it seems that the Nike Women’s Race does not attract “elite” runners- and doesn’t seem to have a systematic way to funnel women into the “elite” category. The fastest women in the elite category ran a 3:06 which is fast- but there are a lot of women who are running sub-three hour marathons these days (Sally B for one, maybe even Cindy). Adrien O’Connell is a 5th grade teacher from New York City who considers herself a “good, solid runner” and has never before run faster that 3:05. But she did on this day! Her time was 2:55:11. Fastest time of her life. Great job to you, Adrien. Wondering if you’d call this race a zen-like moment? You’re in the zone and everything is going perfectly!
Want to know the sucky part? She didn’t win the race! She had the fastest time but since she wasn’t in the elite category she went home empty handed. Seems the organizers hadn’t planned on that happening and therefor did nothing. You can read the article here on the San Francisco Chronicle? Thoughts anyone? Shouldn’t she be the winner of the race?
On another note, one of our readers had a fabulous first marathon and I’m hoping she will let me share her story with you, but it was great to hear how running has changed her life forever and for good. You go Jennifer!! You are a marathoner now!!
3 responses so far ↓
1 WeightingGame // Oct 22, 2008 at 2:37 pm
a) I can’t believe she blew everyone away by 11 minutes. That’s HUGE
b) so sad she didn’t get any kind of recognition, regardless of class
c) Me want blue box
WeightingGames last blog post..5 Ways to Master Your Emotions
2 m // Oct 22, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Awesome!
3 Tiffany // Oct 24, 2008 at 5:48 pm
I will take a necklace from that cute firefighter with the blond hair – he looks like Brad Pitt!
Tiffanys last blog post..Wednesday Blog Tour
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